Chapter 4 - The Man Inside the Cabin
Gabriel forgot Silas.
He grabbed Dominic's keys.
"Where are you going?"
"The boy."
Sarah followed.
"Then I'm coming."
"No."
"Try stopping me."
Gabriel didn't waste time.
They escaped the mill before federal agents sealed the northern road.
Dominic remained behind.
Whether he escaped or surrendered no longer mattered.
For Gabriel, one fact had erased everything else.
Someone was inside Walter's cabin with Eli.
They drove through the storm.
Sarah gripped the dashboard.
"Who is he?"
"I don't know."
"You know everyone."
"Apparently not."
"Is Eli alive?"
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
"You can't know that."
"If they wanted him dead, they wouldn't send the photograph."
"Then what do they want?"
"Me afraid."
Sarah looked at him.
"Is it working?"
"Yes."
The answer surprised her.
Gabriel Vale didn't look like a man who admitted fear.
"Why do you care this much?"
"He saved my life."
"That isn't the whole reason."
Gabriel stared through the windshield.
Years earlier, his younger sister Sofia had been twelve.
Their father had made enemies.
One enemy had taken Sofia to punish him.
Gabriel had been seventeen.
He had promised to bring her home.
He failed.
Afterward, something inside him had hardened.
He built rules around the darkness.
No children.
No trafficking.
No families used as leverage.
Men who violated those rules disappeared.
That was how Gabriel Vale became the Reaper.
Sarah listened silently.
"So when you saw Eli..."
"I saw someone I wasn't going to fail again."
They reached the cabin at 1:26 a.m.
The front door was open.
Gabriel entered first.
"Eli?"
Silence.
"Mom?"
Sarah pushed past him.
"Eli!"
Scout barked from downstairs.
They ran.
The basement door was locked.
Gabriel kicked it open.
Eli sat beside Walter.
Both were alive.
Scout nearly knocked Sarah over.
She hugged Eli so tightly he protested.
Gabriel scanned the room.
"Where is he?"
Walter pointed upstairs.
"He left."
"Who?"
"Never gave a name."
"What did he want?"
Walter handed Gabriel an envelope.
"He wanted you to have this."
Gabriel opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
Three young men stood outside a restaurant.
Gabriel recognized himself.
Dominic.
And their father, Matteo Vale.
But someone had circled Matteo's face.
On the back:
YOUR FATHER DIDN'T DIE OF A HEART ATTACK.
Gabriel stared.
His father had died eight years earlier.
At least that was what the doctor had said.
Eli watched him.
"Is that your dad?"
"Yes."
"What's it mean?"
Gabriel folded the photograph.
"I don't know."
Walter spoke.
"The man said you'd know where to look."
"Anything else?"
"One thing."
Gabriel waited.
"He said Silas wasn't the traitor."
Sarah frowned.
"Then who was?"
Walter looked directly at Gabriel.
"He said Silas was just the weapon."
Gabriel thought of Dominic.
Dominic had leaked his route.
But why?
Who had convinced him?
Gabriel called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Dominic finally picked up.
"Gabriel."
"Where are you?"
"Don't come."
"What happened?"
"I found something."
"Where?"
"Our father's house."
Gabriel went still.
The old Vale house had been empty for years.
"What?"
"I went there after the mill."
"Why?"
"Because Silas said something before the agents took him."
"What?"
Dominic hesitated.
"He said Dad kept records."
Gabriel looked at the photograph.
"What did you find?"
"A ledger."
"Bring it."
"I can't."
"Why?"
Dominic breathed into the phone.
"Because I'm not alone."
A crash sounded.
Then the call disconnected.
Gabriel immediately moved toward the door.
Sarah blocked him.
"You're injured."
"My brother is in trouble."
"Your brother betrayed you."
"He's still my brother."
Eli appeared behind her.
"Are you coming back?"
Gabriel looked at him.
The boy's question carried more weight than it should have.
"Yes."
"You promise?"
Gabriel had stopped making promises years ago.
"I promise."
Walter gave him the rifle.
"Bring both of you back."
Gabriel drove alone.
The old Vale estate stood outside Asheville behind rusted iron gates.
He entered through the kitchen.
Blood marked the floor.
"Dominic?"
No answer.
He followed the blood into his father's study.
Dominic sat against the desk.
Alive.
Barely.
Gabriel rushed over.
"Who did this?"
Dominic tried speaking.
Gabriel leaned closer.
"Ledger."
"What?"
Dominic pointed toward the fireplace.
Gabriel found a hidden compartment.
Inside was a black notebook.
Names.
Payments.
Dates.
Judges.
Police officers.
Businessmen.
Then Gabriel saw a familiar name.
DR. MICHAEL HARROW.
The physician who had signed Matteo Vale's death certificate.
Beside it:
$250,000 — AUTHORIZED BY E.V.
Gabriel turned pages.
E.V.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Hundreds of transactions.
"Who is E.V.?"
Dominic whispered one word.
"Evelyn."
Gabriel stopped breathing.
Evelyn Vale.
Their mother.
The woman Gabriel believed had died fifteen years earlier.
A floorboard creaked behind him.
Gabriel turned.
The study door slowly opened.
A woman in her sixties stepped inside.
She looked directly at him.
May you like
"Hello, Gabriel."
His dead mother had come home.
